Leif

Unfortunately it seems this man was truly a one-season-wonder. Not fit for the likes of our club if both his club and especially international performances are anything to go by. His level is a step up to be sure, the likes of Roma perhaps, but they'll never afford him. Wherever he goes, I think the time for him and the club will be unfruitful. The 1 word to define him is limited. Yes he can drive forward like Ramires, yes he can header powerfully and shoot powerfully, but there is no poise. Without the goal stats to cover that up, it's easier to see.

Excuse me

Both Italy & PSG fans prefer 35 year old Thiago Motta to him these days. Passing isn't everything. He should've waited and did everything in his power to play for Juventus. He didn't have enough patience.

A few things. Never heard of Luis Campos until now, but if his credentials are true, I don't think any of us need to know much more about him. With that said, A quick Google search shows that last year, apparently Mourinho wanted to bring him in to United. That, and maybe this, is lazy journalism putting 2 + 2 together. An article in 2015 does say though that Mourinho & him are close. So why didn't he get him? (Also worth mentioning, he worked at Real Madrid, and didn't exactly discover any gems for them. Bigger clubs just don't ask for unheard of gems, even if they give the impression that's what they want.) This sounds too good to be true, presuming he wouldn't be shackled and whipped into submission here.

I don't like calling the Premier League the best league, since we have such a lack of tactical nuance & technique here, but we have to call it that, because it's simply the 'biggest' league and in a way, the most entertaining from an adrenaline POV. So with that said, and the PL being #1 due to some technicalities, surely now, Serie A is back to being number 2? Atletico are nothing this season. Real Madrid are nothing this season. They're both useless in the Champions League this season. Barcelona aren't great this season, yet are trotting to the title nicely. Sevilla have fallen. And that's pretty much La Liga. Serie A? People all over the world now are excited to see who will win this season - thinking it could literally be any of Juventus, Roma, Napoli, Inter, Lazio (though Lazio/Napoli don't rotate, so will burn out. Roma on the other hand keep getting results, with different players on the pitch.) Nevermind the fact that Napoli, from Serie A, play the best football in the Champions League this season - and Roma, from Serie A, spanked the English champions. Ligue 1 isn't watched by many outside France; people just check the scores to see how the PSG/Monaco players are doing. It's a slugger of a league. Bundesliga is the Bundesliga - everything in place to be great, but so, so far from it. It's a yo-yo league with teams finishing 4th one season, 15th the next season. If we judge purely on a football level, nothing to do with media/'shock' results/'history', Serie A is top dog. And that's with a fraction of the funds the Premier League clubs get thrown at them by sponsors etc. Maybe it's because of that.

Such a typical English piece of journalism. They don't know what Roma went through to get him. They don't know how influential Lorenzo himself was to ensuring it was only Roma he signed for. He grew up supporting the team, and originally came through their academy; then add the fact this is another year of Roma's mini-resurgence...topped off with the fact he's still developing, and nowhere near ready to start for a team aiming for the Premier League + CL title. It's disrespectful to Serie A to pump out crap like this, as if they're some bottom-feeders to pick players from. 99% of Serie A's best players + best prospects stay in Serie A. Just look at their strikers. Belotti. Icardi. Mertens. Higuain. Dzeko. Immobile. All continue to stay. None could be pried away, because in Italy it's understood that Serie A is getting back to where they belong.

Neymar crying after his NT manager Tite defended him with strong & beautiful words in a press conference is one of the best moments i've seen. Instantly I have faith in Tite. That's a manager. Very special what he did there, and i've not seen it from any other manager.

You know if we go by trophies, Toni Kroos is literally the most successful player of all time? (I think..) No hyperbole. 11 years, 22 trophies. Played in 4 of the last 6 Champions League finals, winning the competition 3 out of those 4 times. His only CL loss due to us

He definitely wasn't great, but he was definitely dangerous - more dangerous than most strikers his age getting a game for England. I guess we expected more since he's been lighting it up in the leagues, but he held his own even if he was all over the place. Germany certainly had their hearts in their throats due to Abraham more often than due to Vardy. We all know his quality, and there's more positives than negatives to take away.

I don't think either of them can for the level we want to play. If they were playing in the French league, going deep into competitions but ultimately not winning trophies, then I think they'd be 'workable' in a midfield 2. This just gives us more incentive to stick with this 5-3-2, or revert to a 4-3-3 /4-2-3-1

Ryan Giggs really understands what's needed to nurture the mindset of a player. Much better pundit than most, with no other pundits talking about athlete psychology.

Ian Wright, live on TV - 'He (Ruben)'s better than Bakayoko.'

Eric Dier honestly has a look of someone who eats glue and small plastic toys for children.

I despise Lingard simply because he's so bad. He wouldn't play for Portugal. Or Sweden. Or Italy. Or Belgium. Or Germany. I don't think he'd even play for Wales or Poland. Yet he plays for England. Scandalous.

Amazing that Henderson's going to slide back into the side eventually at his expense

And now Bertrand, another youth product on. Is that 3 to United's 1, Tottenham's 0, Arsenal's 0, Liverpool's 1?

The difference between this game vs. every time he played for us, is the lack of laziness. Poof. Gone. Now a normal, average-work-rate player, with above-average physical abilities. Useful. (Surprisingly accurate with everything he did too. Thinking + acting quick on top of that. Murder if he doesn't make it here due to Bakayoko, if he keeps up this level.)

The stupidity to take off Abraham for Rashford. They should be playing together, building chemistry as the young future for England. What on earth is the point of keeping Vardy on, who hasn't even done anything?

I'm probably Loftus-Cheek's biggest critic on planet earth, yet in this friendly vs. Germany he's been immense. Through balls on the ground, through balls in the air, driving through with power past multiple players, tidy passes. Everything people act like Bakayoko will become...Loftus-Cheek is showing he already is. Their traits are the same, but i'll never see Bakayoko play to the level RLC has today. Absolutely involved & influential. Multiple chances created. Bakayoko's a one-chance-per-game type player. I guess Bakayoko's a better ball-winner. But my understanding was that we signed him to drive forward like this.

'Chelsea are shit with youth' - well, quality over quantity. England's best player tonight is Loftus-Cheek. How many United, Man City & Arsenal youth products have been MOTM-worthy for their national side in recent years? I think Wilshere was, in a friendly against nobodies, a few years ago. It can be argued that Tammy Abraham's one of the best players today too - at least one of the most dangerous. Both have been with us for ages. Real ages.

Once again, Hazard's moments of true world-class-level come when he's centrally on the pitch. Not necessarily starting the game there (which he should), but regardless how he gets there, being there unlocks him - and he unlocks the other team. It's not rocket science. Charging at slow midfielders & centre backs lets him rule. Whereas we insist on putting him against some of the fastest fullbacks in world football week in week out. Every manager seems to consider Hazard too good to tinker with. They're wrong.

That Joe Gomez from Liverpool is a headless chicken.

Italy really went ahead and appointed the most bland, maybe even pathetic excuse for an international manager they could. Lunatics.

How do you sign Herrera for 30m and then just let him leave on a free? (To Atletico) Hilarious. On the Atletico side of things; not a great signing. An average player, really, no better than squad players they already have. Just younger than some of them. I suppose it's not a bad signing, but it doesn't elevate them whatsoever. All of their attention, every last drop of it should be focused solely on full backs.